Completing a Qur'an recital

Completing a recital of the whole Qur'an and marking the khatma; a Ramadan custom and one practised in memorisation circles across the world. The early generations differed in how quickly they finished: some completed it once a day and night, some twice, some reached three times, and some once a month ¹.

Al-Nawawi held that the right pace differs by person: one whose subtle reflections yield rare insights should confine himself to what secures full understanding; one occupied with spreading knowledge or other pressing affairs of religion and the community should confine himself to what does not detract from his charge; and anyone else may read as much as he can without sliding into boredom or hasty gabble. A group of the early authorities disliked completing it every day and night ¹. Abu'l-Walid al-Baji noted that the Prophet ﷺ instructed Abd Allah ibn Amr to finish in seven days or three, and Malik, asked about a man finishing every night, said "how excellent that is — the Qur'an leads to every good" ^{1 2}.

Supplication is recommended upon finishing the Qur'an, on the report — with weakness in its isnad — from al-'Irbad ibn Sariya that "whoever completes the Qur'an has an answered prayer"; and it is recommended to begin a new recital right after finishing, on the hadith "the most beloved of deeds to God is the one who alights and moves on — who traverses the Qur'an from its first to its last, moving on whenever he settles" — whose isnad al-Tirmidhi found weak ².

• Text from the Kuwaiti Fiqh Encyclopedia, headword «قرآن» (paragraphs 22-23 on completing the Qur'an), Noor-Book scan; both cited hadiths are graded weak in the source itself and are reported with that caveat.